day 13 | sehun/xiumin | romance | 6,766 words | pg
warnings: none
in which sehun is crushing on a barista.

“This is a horrible idea,” Sehun says as he is pushed towards the counter.

“I’m sure you can manage,” Luhan replies, grinning widely. “Besides, you owe me, so I’m asking for a favor now. Please take care of my coffee shop while I’m away. I’ll be back in two weeks. Fighting!”

And so Luhan leaves Sehun at the coffeeshop, rushing off to catch a flight to Beijing.





Managing a coffeeshop is not a problem when Sehun has worked part-time in several cafés before. He is not too bad as barista either, his coffee might not be the best one in Seoul, but good enough for people to hire him. He refuses to think that it is because of his pretty face that draws in customers. And with one of his closest friends - Luhan was an exchange student at his school and later on his Chinese tutor and now his best friend, close to being an older brother - opening a coffeeshop in Hongdae, Sehun has only improved his skills. Luhan has taught him a lot about coffee and chocolaty drinks. He has revealed his special recipes for smoothies and has given him advice on how to make the best boba teas. Sehun’s skills are nowhere near Luhan’s, but he is decent, decent enough for Luhan to entrust him with his coffeeshop during an emergency visit home. Sehun has the feeling that it might have been planned all along though. Because Luhan is an devil in disguise.

His phone beeps and Sehun wakes from his daydreaming.

Don’t worry, Minseok should be there before the first rush of customers :D

It isn’t as much a consolation as Luhan probably thinks it is, because Minseok is the one horrible aspect of this job.





Minseok is friendly, gentle and sweet, which is everything Sehun is looking for in an ideal partner. It is needless to say that he has a huge crush on Minseok and working in a small space with him doesn’t help. It makes Sehun terribly aware of the other’s physical closeness. It makes him feel fuzzy and heated at all times, constantly in fear that he might make a mistake. What if he doesn’t roast the beans for long enough? What if he uses too much water? What if he mistakes one flavor for another? What if his lisp makes a comeback? There are millions of embarrassing situations he can imagine and they are closer to become real now that Minseok arrives.

“Morning,” the older boy greets with a blinding smile that makes Sehun’s knees weak. His brain already ceased to work and he just stares at the other with a light flush.

“Hm? Are you feeling unwell?” In a few seconds Minseok has reached the counter, leaning over it to put a hand on Sehun’s forehead.

“A little warm. Maybe you should rest a bit? I’ll call you when I can’t handle the customers,” Minseok says, but Sehun shakes his head. He is here to work. He can’t let the other do everything. It feels like abusing Minseok’s generosity and Sehun doesn’t like that. Not to mention that now is the time he can prove himself to be helpful and not the silly, childish boy Minseok has been introduced to at first.

“I’m fine,” he manages to say, smile a little strained. Minseok’s look is questioning, but he doesn’t protest. He just nods and disappears into the staff room to put away his bag and jacket. A minute later, he reappears in their work attire, a dark brown shirt and a pristine white apron. Sehun has served about half a dozen of customers by now, men and women on their way to work and a few students, too.

It is about half an hour later that the first big wave gushes in, teenagers on their way to school, more students in need of a strong coffee because they stayed up late to study, and less workers, because they should be at work already.

Sehun has no spare second to stop and admire Minseok’s perfect customer friendly smile and he can’t stop in his tracks to listen to the elder’s soothing voice either. There are customers waiting to be served, some of them less friendly and more demanding and so, so impatient. Good coffee isn’t made within seconds and Sehun does his best to fasten the process, but there is just that much he can do. He can’t possibly control the time it needs for coffee beans to be roasted to unfold their full aroma, nor can he make the water boil faster. There is no way he can serve the drinks faster without spilling any either. At least, Sehun thinks, his hands are not too shaky as he handles the machinery, tapping onto the register’s screen or pushing the drinks and trays over the counter. He is not a beginner anymore and with practice comes routine.

But routine only goes as long as the usual orders are made. There is this lady in front of him with shiny pearl necklace and a fur coat and Sehun has not only made the mistake to wrinkle his nose at her exclusive but not very good taste in fashion, but also to stare at her with wide eyes when she wants shaved ice.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t sell any bingsu,” Sehun says with an apologetic smile. It is only February and except the places specialized on ice cream and bingsu, no usual coffeeshop would sell it. Also, Sehun can’t quite remember if Luhan had ever had bingsu on the menu, but the question is answered by the lady herself.

“But you did sell bingsu before,” she argues and Sehun takes a deep breath and forces his smile to stay.

“I’m really sorry, but we do not sell any bingsu at the moment. It is only February,” he apologizes again and bows his head which hopefully soothes the lady. It doesn’t, however, and the customer is starting to make a scene, demanding to talk to the manager. Who must be close to Beijing already, Sehun thinks. And Luhan has given him the responsibility over the whole coffeeshop so right now Sehun is the manager, right?

“Miss, you are already talking to the manager.”

“You?” The lady lets out an obnoxious laugh and Sehun feels frustrated. He is angered, but he can’t do anything. Working in the gastronomy section means that the customer is the king and one has to be friendly at all times. That was the first thing he has learned. Plus, the lady was older than him and there is no way Sehun can be rude to her when his parents have taught him well. Respect elders, don’t talk back.

“Yes,” Sehun replies weakly. “And, I am really sorry, but I can only apologize for we don’t sell any bingsu now.”

The lady shakes her head and calls him an insolent child, a bratty kid and an incompetent and nosy worker. She demands the manager to come so she can complain and get him fired and Sehun has never been more close to tears in public than now.

“Miss,” another voice pipes up and Minseok is right by his side, smiling encouragingly at him.

“Finally,” the lady lets out and Sehun watches helplessly as a few customers waiting in line already leave because it takes too long to solve this problem, while other customers give him understanding and pitiful glances. Sehun rubs at his eyes.

“I am really sorry to say that we don’t sell any bingsu at the moment. It is a special seasonal menu we only offer in summer and as of now, in February, it is too cold to sell. We kindly ask for your understanding.”

The lady nods, sighing, and then points at Sehun. “Still, I do hope you fire incompetent children like him. They are supposed to go to school and not mess up workplaces.”

Sehun can only wince at the hostile tone. He might be twenty years old already, but he still feels too young to be considered an adult, and when people clearly doubt him, he has even less confidence and shrinks into himself. He feels a lot smaller now, shoulders slumped and teeth digging into his lower lip as he tries to make himself smaller and dissolve in air because he doesn’t like to be watched by the small crowd of curious people nor does he like to listen to more of the lady’s complaints.

“Excuse me,” Minseok says again. “But the young man you have been talking to is my boss. Please refrain from accusing him of incapability without any legit reason if I may say so. It sounds a lot like harrassment and in that case I am afraid we can’t serve you anymore. Please hurry and place an order or leave because there are other people waiting for their much needed morning coffee. I’m sure you don’t want to embarrass yourself any further by making another scene, right?”

The lady blushes and scoffs at that, mumbling something about the worst service ever, and leaves. Minseok gives Sehun’s shoulder a friendly squeeze before he returns to his side of the counter to serve the queue that has gotten longer and longer. Sehun lets out a shuddery breath and his hand is trembling when he taps on the display in front of him. The next customer is a college student, giving him a smile and telling him it was okay, that he shouldn’t let that evil woman’s words get to him. Sehun just nods and keeps working mechanically, hyper aware of what he is saying and more focused on the customers than ever. He only calms down slowly, gradually, but the shock is still there and ever present. Does he look that much like a child?





When there are less customers around lunchtime, Sehun goes to the staff room to rest. He has had his fair share of grumpy customers before, but at that time he wasn’t the manager, so he could always call someone to help him solve the problem. But now with Luhan absent and telling him to take care of the café it is Sehun who has to do everything. And he is neither specializing in business administration nor has he ever planned to spend the rest of his lifetime working in a coffeeshop. He is an arts major after all. He wonders why Luhan didn’t leave the keys and the responsibility within Minseok’s hands.

“Lunch.”

Sehun jolts up from his sitting position, upper body rested on Luhan’s desk when Minseok’s voice sounds into his ear. He looks up from the plastic bag to the older boy, blinking a little.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like to eat so I ordered jjajangmyeon.”

“Thanks, hyung.” Minseok flashes a smile and pats his shoulder. “Hurry so I can take a lunch break soon.”

Sehun nods and opens his lunch, starting to eat.

Since it is just two people handling one coffeeshop, whenever one takes a break the other needs to be present at the counter. Minseok has only been in the staff room for half a minute at most, yet Sehun is slightly worried. What if something has happened in the meantime? He hurries with his meal and feels relieved to see the coffeeshop almost empty. There are just pop tunes softly played in the background with random bits of conversation and quiet laughter from the occupied tables. Minseok is standing at the counter but his focus is on his phone. Sehun steps closer, curious, and takes a peek. The older boy is solving sudoku.

“Finished?”

The taller one startles a bit and blushes. He didn’t mean to creep up on the other and now that he is standing there, taking in Xiumin’s pleasant scent - vanilla and coffee beans - he is reminded of his crush on the other.

“You can go have lunch now,” he says and adds quietly. “And thanks again. For the thing before, not lunch.”

“It’s alright,” Minseok replies. “Don’t let anyone intimidate you. You’ve grown so tall. You should be more confident, Sehun-ah.” There is a hand patting his back again before the older boy moves to the back to have his meal. Sehun can only stand there and smile dumbly, heart beating a little faster because Minseok just called him Sehun-ah. He hasn’t done so for half a year, although it might be because Sehun has tried to avoid the other as of lately. They haven’t seen each other for half a year.





As far as Sehun knows, Minseok is not dating anyone at the moment so he is surprised to see a girl asking him to see Minseok oppa. He is even more surprised when Minseok comes forward and greets her with a big smile and bright eyes.

“What brings you here?” Minseok asks and Sehun steps away to give them more privacy. His ears are perked up though, trying to make out what they are talking about, which is not only rude but unnecessary as well, because they are talking loud enough for him to hear their voices over the music.

“I missed you, oppa!” The girl exclaims and Sehun turns away, frowning lightly. His hand reaches out for a rug so he can randomly wipe the counter, anything to distract himself. It doesn’t help though, the jealousy gnawing at him, but at the same time he knows it is his own fault for not trying to approach the other once or simply confessing. Instead, he has been carrying around his puppy crush that has only intensified over time, even without direct contact with the other. Sehun hears enough stories by Luhan to know.

“Missed you, too, Sohee,” Minseok laughs and Sehun closes his eyes for a second. He should stop being so delusional. There is no way Minseok would ever think of dating someone like Sehun. Someone weak and incapable. Someone living with his head over the clouds. Someone who is greatly affected by weather and the seasons. Someone who is the calmest of all oceans only to be stirred up by the lightest winds.

“So about the date…” The girl starts and Sehun turns the music a little louder, relieved when there is finally distraction in the form of a group of high schoolers coming in. He takes their orders with the best smile he can manage at the moment and doesn’t spare Minseok a glance. But out of the corners of his eyes he can see the girl lean over the counter and pressing her cheeks against Minseok’s on both sides. It is extremely intimate and Sehun gulps before he can start working on the coffees.





“I’ll handle the rest, hyung,” Sehun tells Minseok later, around 9PM. There is just one more hour to work and around that time, not many people go in and out of cafés. There is still quite an amount of customers inside the coffeeshop, but most of them have been sitting here for an hour or longer already. Sehun can handle it alone. He thinks Minseok would like to go earlier, too, to see his girlfriend as soon as possible.

“It’s alright,” the older boy responds sweetly, not budging at all. “I wouldn’t want to end my shift earlier and still get paid the full wage.”

Sehun just nods and busies himself with cleaning up around the counter.





“You’re still here?” Sehun asks. He has just turned off all the lights and locked all the doors, and when turns around, he sees Minseok standing there.

“I can’t let you go home alone, right? That would be irresponsible of a hyung,” the other says nonchalantly and Sehun gulps. Right. He has forgotten that Minseok used to bring him home when he stayed until the café closed before, simply, because in that stage of his infatuation, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with the other, using his aegyo back then to convince Minseok. The other just laughed and agreed back then.

“I’m old enough now,” Sehun says, thankful that in the dark of the night his pink cheeks are hidden from eyesight. Not even the lamps and the moon together are enough